Lizzy Miles

Lizzy Miles has been to more funerals than weddings in her life. She stopped counting her losses and started counting her “angels” when she reached double digits. Inspired by her comforting and positive experiences with hospice staff, Lizzy decided to pay it forward and become a hospice volunteer. She found that work so rewarding that she determined that her life's purpose was to work in hospice. She made a mid-life career change and quit her marketing job of twelve years to return to school to become a hospice social worker. While she was an intern for hospice, she organized an event where she helped a 91-year old hospice patient ski again. She has a Master's degree in Communication and one in Social Work. She is currently a hospice social worker and the networking chair for ADEC, the Association for Death Education and Counseling.

Articles:

Does Jesus Like Chocolate?

She was staring at the glass of chocolate Ensure.  “Annie” didn’t like chocolate but was so devout in her Catholicism that she did not want to offend Jesus.  She looked […]

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Negotiating with God, Dreaming of Chocolate Cake

The first time I met “Gary,” we ended up talking for over two hours.  He was in his late 60s and had throat cancer, evidenced by a protruding plum-sized tumor […]

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Great Aunt Waits for God

My Great Aunt Alice was a pretty healthy 87 years old.  She was spunky.  I really thought I’d be submitting her picture to the Today show for the Smuckers jar […]

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Mother’s Necklace is More Than Just Jewelry

I wore the necklace with the tiny multicolored beads every day.  Its primary color was black but there were also blues, greens, reds and white.  I liked the necklace because […]

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At the Bedside: Perhaps the Hokey Pokey IS What it’s All About

It was a Friday night when I received a call from my Uncle Paul who told me that my Aunt Jerry, who had end-stage Alzheimer’s disease, had suffered two seizures […]

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Animal-Human Connection Lives on After Death

I am a cat-lover, I will admit it.  Growing up, I had cats here and there, but my dad was really intolerant of the normal pet things like fleas and […]

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Best Years With Mom Came Later

By Elizabeth Miles — At 17, when I was told by my Uncle Paul that I was “just like my mother,” I cringed.  Why would I want to be like […]

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Can We Enjoy Pavarotti at the Deathbed?

By Elizabeth Miles — On a Friday in January of 2003, I get a phone call from my step mom. My aunt, my dad’s sister Shirley, has a pneumonia, it’s […]

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